OPERA / Notices : Don Giovanni - ENO, London Coliseum

The ENO's Don Giovanni is back, still tepid. Jonathan Miller has long since left his 1985 production romping on alone. Philip Prowse's bricked-up grey towers spin and recombine, coolly chunky, and the black, gold and grey Spanish-Victorian costumes retain some freshness. But there is too much half-remembered routine. Donna Anna watches her father being killed, then walks over to his corpse and says: 'My father's in danger, we must help him.' Four lackeys shoulder their murdered master with practised nonchalance. Andrew Greenwood, relatively new to ENO, conducts. The opening on Thursday night sounded a bit unsynchronised but sweet and potentially shapely. Strengths in the casting included Peter Coleman-Wright's spruce but dangerous Don, excitingly in command of a voice that glided between seduction and high-coloured violence. Lesley Garrett returned as the definitive, grown-up, pure-voiced Zerlina. Linda McLeod was a stunning, fluent new Donna Elvira, and newcomers Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Glenn Winslade and Christopher Purves impressed as the Commendatore, Don Ottavio and Masetto. Also new, Helen Field's touching, natural Donna Anna had only some of the vocal credentials.